Thermal inkjet technology is a relatively common method of inkjet printing. Thermal inkjet technology continues to progress in terms of print quality for text and graphics and offers significant performance verses cost as compared with other types of print technology. Thermal inkjet technology has a number of advantages including small drop sizes, high printhead operating frequency, system reliability and controlled ink drop placement.
Thermal inkjet technology includes thermal inkjet printers that employ inkjet cartridges to print bubbles or drops of ink onto a printable medium, such as paper. The inkjet cartridges employed in thermal inkjet printers include thermal inkjet printheads that use heat to generate ink vapor bubbles, ejecting small drops of ink through nozzles and placing them precisely on a surface to form text or images.
The thermal inkjet printheads are fabricated in/on a semiconductor material on which components, including heating elements, ink reservoirs, channels, and nozzles. The heating elements, typically a thin film resistor, and the ink reservoirs are formed in or on a semiconductor substrate. Channels are formed on the semiconductor substrate in order to connect the heating elements to the ink reservoirs. Nozzles are formed on the heating elements through which droplets of ink can be ejected. A single inkjet printhead can include one or more sets of nozzles, heating elements, and ink reservoirs for a particular color of ink. Multiple sets can be employed to permit multiple colors to be printed.
During operation, the heating elements superheat a small amount of ink within its chambers thereby forming gas or thermal bubbles, which are ejected through the nozzles and onto a printing source (e.g., paper). The heating elements are driven by drive circuitry that passes pulses of current through the heating elements.
Thermal inkjet printheads and the inkjet cartridges comprising them are generally specific to a particular printer or group of printers. Varied printers have different printing capabilities, requirements, printing commands, and the like that limit the number of cartridges employable in a given printer. As a result, inkjet cartridges are often made for a specific printer or group of related printers and are designed to work with only the specific printer or group of related printers.
One problem that can occur is when a non-compatible print cartridge is employed by a printer. Undesired consequences, such as poor printing, incorrect colors, and even printer damage can result.